The curious case of Balem Abrasax
by amyltrer
Summary: This is a bit of analysis on said character. If you find it interesting, feedback is appreciated.


Thank you for sharing your great insights as answer to my question. It's a cannon trail so obvious to me and seems no one else is taking it into consideration _#happily wiggles spacewolfish tail#_

However, there are two points in your answer I don't agree with.

No. 1 is that the Verse knows about Balem killing Seraphi. And he got away with it. No. No and no. That just can't be.

Seraphi was way too important a figure in the Entitled Elite for her murder to be taken lightly. You mentioned Aegis being frustrated and limited in their power over Entitleds. Well, here is the perfect occasion for them to snap one of the galaxy snobbiest one. Balem might be filthy rich and probably has strings in the Orusian political stage to pull, but with that attitude of his I bet he also has a lot of enemies around the galaxy, who would benefit a lot from his, let's say, removal.

Speaking of people who have lots to gain from Balem being sent to space!jail/executed, let's look at the closest ones - his siblings. Forget that puny planet Earth. If they could get Balem out of the way, his part of Seraphi's inheritance (in my opinion larger than both of theirs combined) would likely be split between Kalique and Titus. We all saw what schemes they did to pluck Earth out from him. If the chance to take all of his belongings arises, Titus and Kalique would combine their forces to have big brother bagged for good.

Sure, there might be other powerful Houses out there that would love to remove the main Abrasax Regenex manufacturer out of the market, but they would have to stay in line, after the Second and Third Primaries.

So, no, no one suspect Balem killed his mommy, especially not Kalique, who has the nose and intuition of Caine a wild hound.

Another reason I think the siblings don't suspect a thing is because of their meeting on Zalintyre. Titus is deferential at first, thanking him for coming, and is obvious Kalique and Balem share a mutual respect if not sympathy for each other. Now despite of the relationship each had with Seraphi, should there be even a lingering suspicion of Balem's involvement in her death, there would have been resentment. And by that I don't mean the _success does not agree with you/failure agrees with you_ fraternal needles. Kalique might have kept a cold, distant demeanor, but with Titus's hot temper, there would have been curses and shouted _You killed my mother!_ s.

And there is the abrupt way he leaves, as if Titus eulogies make him feel guilty. To me it's not as much because he has a hard time reining his emotions (c'mon after several millennia spent together they must be accustomed to his anger tantrums), but from fear they will suspect something.

Alas, the Queen being murdered by her first son would have made this deed even more atrocious in the eyes of their society. If he were even suspected, assuming Aegis doesn't impose a sort of house/planet/ship arrest or something, he would be shunned by the very society he likes to regard himself superior to.

In consequence - droppings of his Regenex stock price on the market, which would bother our profit-orientated Balem even more.

It's a personal feeling but the Wachowskies wanted to paint Balem, judging the grandeur and the security army he surrounds himself as a fearsome man. He also seems kind of a loner, in contrast with Titus, who is depicted as a social butterfly. If you squint, both Titus and Kalique have suits of splices to keep them company, while Balem only have Sargon and sims. First are lizard like creatures, second are basically AI robots, none of them interacting very much with their boss .The only human looking splice around Balem, Mr. Night, does not seem very happy with his job. My point is that he lives in isolation. Maybe after murdering his mother he can't trust himself in other's company. He's definitely afraid his secret will spill. And he acts as if denying the deed enough will make him less guilty of it. It's not only the guilt that makes him snap, but also the knowledge that it has to remain a secret. He is obviously afraid of what will happen to him if the truth eases out. And most likely a whole army of droidic lawyers will not save him and Balem knows this.

There are two scenarios I'm thinking of, first is execution, second and the most probable because he still has a high social position would be loss of his title and wealth.

Just look at his reaction when Jupiter accused him, he went mad with anger and slapped her. Why would he do this if everybody already knew? Before that moment he was the one in control and the tables turned right when she made this assumption! From that moment on he acts like a cornered animal. I don't know if he knew his way around the refinery or was simple coincidence the two of them meet after she stepped of the beam , but the point is Balem had enough time to head for an evacuation shuttle himself. Or he could have called one to pick him out. Instead he stays , risking his life because he obviously sees Jupiter as a threat to himself, and he has to put her down.

Heck, I would be paranoid too if I were in his place

And that's why I think his mom`s murder is far from being an open secret.

In your answer, you said he admitted killing Seraphi in front of his underlings. Except, he didn't. Saw the last scenes twice, and beside the slap he gives to Jupiter when she accuses him of said deed, the rest of violence takes place when they were alone in a god-knows-where part of the refinery. At that point, whatever underlings around were dead or busy dragging their behinds to safety to eavesdrop on the boss.

Has occurred to anyone that exactly no one bothered to pack Balem in their run to safety? Or even check on him? He has that FTL zip on his neck that might serve as a locator, so the excuse " _Oh dear, boss went down to that hole and we can't find him_ " is just not valid. Seriously, they had flying vehicles. And beams. And where were the other Sargons? I have counted at least four lizards when Balem landed his ass on Jupiter? The only one around at the critical moment was Mr. Greeghan and he was more concerned to pick a bone with Caine than to ensure his employer got rescued. And weren't there a patrol of armed guards in the hall before the floor went off? Caine did not killed them all.

Maybe they were in the ships we saw leaving the collapsing refinery and went to Kalique for an employment interview.

That scene felt a lot rushed, the Wachowskies were like _Oh, we have only twenty minutes of this movie left, let's make it quick!_

Anyway, that says a lot about the appreciation the First Primary gets from his personnel.

No. 2 of your answer I don't agree with is Balem having any damage claim to charge against Jupiter. Except maybe that sheave of abdication she smashed. Because everything else is Caine's fault. She came to the refinery at Balem's request, escorted by his henchmen. There is no legal contractual binding between her and Caine, so she is not responsible for any of his actions. So if Balem will claim propriety retribution it's going to come out of Caine's legion account. Or, depending on space legalities from Caine's last employer which is - hehe, Titus, even if their agreement was sort of thrown out of the window. Er, airlock.

I can totally see the satisfied smug plastered on Kalique's face as she takes in the news.

So far that's my theory regarding Balem and his motivations, and I have a feeling he's going to be the target of all _Yo mamma's_ jokes in the upcoming fanfics.

And speaking of immigrants, I'm Romanian. Do the Wachowskies know what Caine translates in my language?


End file.
